Since It's Unpredictable (4)
Since It's Unpredictable (4)
In the dark, filthy room, the massive dwarf Drex clenched his teeth.
'Goddamn... scavenger bum bastards.'
The voice laced with cold curses never left his lungs; he swallowed it back down.
The problem was that the moment he heard his girlfriend 'Lorenda' had been dragged off by scavengers, he came charging in without any preparation at all.
He had been far too hasty.
In the end, Drex himself was captured by the scavengers and locked up in this dark room.
The good news was that the security was sloppy.
He had already slipped the cuffs binding his hands. There were no other precautions, so given enough time, he could have hacked the lock and opened the door.
The bad news, however, was that Drex simply did not have enough time.
'At this rate, I'll be too late. ...Please, please!'
Should he have come wearing a combat body?
But that would have made him even later. Scavengers who hid their tails and stayed under cover were hard to find.
The thick iron door blocking Drex's way showed absolutely no sign of opening.
Just then, a voice came from outside the door.
[Is anyone in there? If you're not a scavenger, please step back from the door within five seconds.]
An ordinary man's voice, completely out of place in a scavenger den.
The voice began counting down five seconds, slow and steady.
Drex did not move away from the door.
If the person opening the door turned out to be a scavenger, he could not afford to miss that chance.
But at the words that followed, Drex had no choice but to retreat from the door.
[Then it explodes—.]
Explodes? What does...
Drex's thought was brief.
A small circle traced in sparks appeared on the iron door.
Drex did not know what exactly it was, but he intuited that it defied the laws of physics as he knew them.
Immediately after.
- KWAAAAAANG!!
The door was blown to pieces and went flying.
Along with the thunderous roar, a cloud of dust and particulate powder spread from beyond the door.
Through the smoke, Drex saw three silhouettes.
The exhausted-looking man standing in the center among them opened his mouth.
"Scavenger... you don't seem to be one. Are you another person who was captured here?"
Because a mask covered the entire lower half of his face, the man's expression was not visible.
But the dark circles visible beneath his eyes made the man's exhaustion unmistakably clear.
"Are you mercenaries who came to rescue people from outside? What about the people who were held captive? Was there a brown-haired woman among them?!"
"Ah."
In the face of Drex's words, which fired off like a machine gun, the man, Lee Si-woon, raised both hands in a calming gesture.
"Don't worry. We rescued everyone and we're on our way out. And pardon me for asking, but... you're Drex-ssi, correct?"
"...Yeah, that's me."
"Lorenda-ssi told us about you, so we came to rescue you. It seems she heard that you got captured while trying to save her."
What a relief.
Hearing Lee Si-woon's words, Drex let out a heavy sigh of relief.
His thick legs lost their strength and he collapsed to the floor right where he was.
Just then, the women behind him, Catherine and Andrea, asked Lee Si-woon something they were curious about.
"Hey, seriously. How the hell did you figure out there were hidden hostages?"
"Yeah, we nearly walked right past without knowing."
Lee Si-woon shrugged his shoulders, playing it cool.
"Just a gut feeling. We saved them, so isn't that all that matters?"
While inwardly he thought: How did I do it? Because I've played the game this world is based on, so I knew the rough flow of the quest.
'Originally, this quest started with Drex's girlfriend already dead... but I'm glad we got here before it was too late.'
Rushing over had been worth it.
Lee Si-woon nodded to himself, unnoticed by anyone.
"Haha..., what a relief, really...."
Drex had conjured the worst possible scenario in his mind.
It was a relief that things had worked out.
Drex, who was sitting on the floor with one hand planted on the ground, stroked the bridge of his own nose with the other.
After a brief silence, Catherine, unable to read the room, opened her mouth.
"Hey, but don't we need someone who can hack soon too? We nearly had huge trouble several times in here."
"...Heroes don't bother learning hacking, you know."
"Pass for me too. I'll have to look into it when I go to No Answer later."
Lee Si-woon and Andrea each answered.
Both answers were perfectly reasonable.
No matter how you looked at it, it was far too late for them to start studying hacking now. That required specialized knowledge and a brilliant mind.
Now that they knew they needed a hacker, the right move was to use this incident as an opportunity to recruit one.
Drex, who had been listening to the conversation, gently lifted his bowed head.
"......You guys, do you by any chance need a colleague who's skilled at hacking, and damn handy to boot?"
A brief silence.
Catherine broke the silence and answered cautiously.
"......Well, we do need one, but. If you're at the level of getting caught and locked up here, that's a bit—."
"Nope, we need you!"
"Huh?"
The one who cut her off mid-sentence was Lee Si-woon.
'Why else did I clear out a scavenger den to rescue Drex and his girlfriend.'
He couldn't let a golden opportunity slip away.
Lee Si-woon kept trying to persuade the other two.
"Just trust me this once. Like I said, I've got good instincts."
"......Well, there's never been a time when you insisted this much and things turned out bad."
"If Si-un says that much, I've got no complaints either."
After finishing the short conversation, Lee Si-woon walked toward Drex, who was still on the floor.
Thanks to Drex's huge frame, even though he was sitting, his line of sight reached Si-un's solar plexus.
"My name is Lee Si-un. I look forward to working with you, Drex-ssi."
"Just call me Drex. ...Lee Shun, Shun, Si-yoon. Hmm..., I don't think that pronunciation's right."
"People who say it for the first time often do. Please feel free to call me whatever is comfortable."
"No, I can't mispronounce the name of the person who saved me and my girlfriend. I look forward to working with you too. ...Si-un."
That was the first meeting between Lee Si-woon and Drex.
5. Unpredictable (4)
"Okay! It's all done, so get up."
"......."
Me.
Am I still alive?
[Ending classical music playback.]
.......
It seemed like I was dead after all.
Starting from my nerve endings and all the way to every single bone positioned in every joint of my entire body, there wasn't a single part that didn't ache.
I moved my feet, which were trembling like a newborn goat's.
"The surgery went well. Looks like the nano ampoule took effect nicely too, and nothing seems likely to cause problems."
Drex, who had always been full of laughter, had a big smile on his lips once again.
I moved my head and examined my body.
Both arms and both legs.
I had undergone implant surgery on all of them, but there seemed to be no outward change at all.
"Hey, did you do this properly or not? Why hasn't anything changed? Did I just suffer for nothing?"
"It's the type that only expands when you exert strong force. There won't be a big difference in appearance. Even though it looks like that, you should be able to easily lift a passing orc now."
Oh.
Hearing that, it felt pretty good.
Of course, even so, that didn't change my fundamental chronic problem: my 'stamina' issue.
"What good is being able to lift an orc like that. I'll probably just get exhausted and collapse before I can take a few steps anyway."
"......Hmm, it's really a shame that there's no cyberware heart or lungs available right now, you know. Just give me some time and I'll try to get my hands on some."
"...No thank you, seonsaeng."
Please, just hold back.
Just living like this for the rest of my life was much more at ease.
Just then, a message notification appeared in my vision interface. Checking the name, it was Catherine.
Sender: 'Neon City's Top Freelancer'
- Hey.
- Did you finish getting checked out by Drex?
- Reply if you're done.
There was no need to put off replying.
I sent a message to Catherine saying I would be back soon.
"Ah."
I asked Drex a question that had just popped into my head.
"If you were going to set today aside for checkups anyway, wouldn't it have been better for Catherine to come with me today and get checked out together? Why split it up for no reason and say she'll do it tomorrow?"
Drex had said so earlier.
Andrea came and got hers last time, and Catherine was scheduled to come tomorrow for her checkup.
Drex answered my question.
"Tsk tsk, you don't understand a woman's heart."
[.......]
The hell.
"Why do you think that Catherine puts in so much effort to avoid leaving scars or implant seam lines on her skin? You think she wants to show you how she gets checked out? ...And from what I see, Catherine isn't the only one who's like that, either."
"It's already been years since we've been together, I can stand to see it a little."
"Hahaha, people's hearts are all different, that's how it is."
It wasn't a reason I could fully understand.
I just figured, 'guess that's how it is,' and moved on.
Leaving the chuckling Drex behind, I moved to the waiting room.
But in front of the waiting room was a figure I had never expected to see.
The tuskless orc, the gatekeeper of No Answer.
It was Mercenary Smith.
Standing ramrod straight with his hands behind his back, his posture was exactly the same as when he guarded No Answer.
He couldn't have shown up because he overheard that species-discriminatory remark about being able to carry an orc around, right?
"Smith-ssi, what brings you here? Are you here for a checkup? Please, go on inside."
"Haha, no. Hello, Shun-ssi."
"If that's not it, then what brings you here......, ah."
Come to think of it, besides getting a checkup.
There was one more reason Smith might have come here.
"The Boss told me to come check whether the package they sent arrived safely, you see."
Seeing that Smith had arrived, Drex came walking out behind me.
"Even though I told them I'd send a message to let them know."
"Still, they told me to go check in person and report back, you know."
The sorrow of the subordinate who must do as the superior commands.
Perhaps he noticed my pitiful gaze, but Smith continued speaking without shifting his solid stance.
"It's fine. As it happens, my hometown, Redwood, is nearby, so I figured I'd just drop by while I'm here."
"Oh, you were born in Redwood?"
It was also the only green zone in Neon City.
If you wanted to see trees, the fastest way was to go to Redwood rather than anywhere else.
Of course, since Cloud Park was located right next to it, the air was just as bad.
"You don't look it, right? I hear that often."
I hadn't said that out loud.
It wasn't wrong, either.
The orcs living in Redwood, which was treated as a slum, were all violent to a man.
But his image was quite different from the typical orc.
Unlike how orcs tended to show off their tusks and even attach LEDs to them, Smith had his tusks ground down so they weren't visible.
"My brothers don't really like it when I come by, but still, now that I'm here, shouldn't I at least show my face once."
"You have it rough too, Smith-ssi."
"Not at all, as much as you do, Shun-ssi."
When he hit me with facts like that, I had nothing to say.
"And one more thing."
Smith leaned his face toward me.
His green skin was very off-putting.
"The Boss asked me to be sure, absolutely sure, to tell you to drop by once."
"...Why?"
"How would I know."
The pinnacle of all fixers in Neon City.
The unknown Boss of No Answer.
I found that person somewhat intimidating. But I couldn't say that to his face.
"...I did receive a gift, so I'll be sure to drop by once later."
"Then I will relay to the Boss that I have secured that promise. By any chance, when might you be able to come?"
That,
I don't know.
Nor did I want to know.
"......I've just had a lot of separate work lately, you see. I'll go when the work dies down a little."
"...Hmph, I understand. You must be very tired from the implant aftereffects, yet I kept you here for a long time."
"Not at all, it's nothing. Have a good visit to your hometown."
Just then, Drex, who had been quiet, spoke to Smith.
In a very kind voice.
"Since you're here, why don't you get some cyberware scaling done too before you go? I'll do a good job for you."
"...Haha, I'm fine. I just got one recently."
It was an understandable answer.
If he had been waiting in the waiting room this whole time, he would have heard my bloodcurdling screams loud and clear.
Drex clicked his tongue in disappointment.
But if the man himself said he'd gotten one recently, what could he do.
I saw Smith off as he disappeared as if fleeing the scene.
Now, then.
"I'll be going now too."
"Yeah, stay in touch more often. And let me see your face more often too. Otherwise, I'm going to drive to your place and come pick you up again."
"......That's a bit."
I couldn't give a definite answer.
If it meant riding in Drex's car like on the way here, that was one thing, but using public transport to get here was way too much of a hassle.
"Hey, speaking of which, can you give me a ride? Let's head back comfortably on the way home too."
"......Hmph. Shall I? There aren't any more reserved customers today anyway, so it doesn't matter."
Drex nodded at my request.
Good.
I could go back comfortably too.
I settled my body into the plush car seat.
True to Drex's nature, loving cutting-edge tech like hacking and cyberware, his car was also packed with all sorts of state-of-the-art equipment.
I looked out the window at the scenery outside.
Except for the factory district smog that blanketed the sky, it was a very nice and clear day.
Drex, gripping the steering wheel, spoke to me.
"Hey, since we're out anyway, how about we go grab a drink together?"
"...Where to?"
"A decent pub opened up near your place. Since it's been a while since we've seen each other, let's catch up on old times."
"......Hmm, well, shall we? Now that I've seen your face after so long, it does bring back old memories."
"Great! Let's go right away!"
No matter how much of a homebody I might be.
Going out somewhere to have fun when I'd already come out once wasn't so bad either.
With Drex driving excitedly beside me, I laid my head back on the car seat.
As I closed my eyes and rested comfortably, Eve asked me.
[......I inquire, are you truly certain it is all right even if you go in later?]
"What could possibly happen from popping out to have a little fun?"
* * *
.......
Something did, in fact, happen.
"......So that is why I can state that I was late, nuna."
"......."
I had forgotten that I said I'd be right home.